Climate change in China: ‘I want more rain’

“I want more rain,” says farmer Li Zhuang. He, like the 20 million other people in this arid northwest province China - Gansu, is dependent on water for his life, and for his income.

A local farmer shows us her drought-ravaged crop

Li and his family live in Jingyuan, central Gansu. This county, upstream on the Yellow River and perched high on a sandy plateau, is officially designated as ‘poor’ by the Chinese government. Residents here are used to drought and sandstorms, and the lack of trees and rain, but they say the drought has intensified.

Migration

This stream dried up completely in 30 years - the river water used to be up to the bottom of the bridge

Rain is the main source of domestic water supply in Gansu. Over the past three decades, streams have been drying up, and a trend is emerging for those who can afford it: migration away from the drought.

“I now live on the verge of a desert…Many of the villagers have moved somewhere else leaving their houses deserted. Yet moving is not an option for me because building a house elsewhere and preparing new land for farming costs a lot of money.” Li‘s family farms 7 mu (1.152 acres) of land, which doesn’t bring in enough income, so they receive a monthly allowance of 30 yuan from the government.

“There has been no rain over the past five years, even in rainy season. Very rarely can I see clouds gathering in the sky. Even when there are clouds the wind is so strong that it drives them away shortly. Without rain, farming is difficult.”

“I don’t know much about climate change,” Li says. “I guess it is mainly because evaporation is so intense here that our land is particularly dry.”

Sandstorms

Apart from the shortening rainy season, the ’sandstorm season’ is also changing in Gansu. The sandstorms can strike at any time, though most occur most frequently between March and May. And with the lack of rain and humidity, they are becoming increasingly common.

“No one dares to stay outdoors when the sandstorms strike…This year my family lost a third of wheat crops because of the sand…”

Adaptation

Li Zhuang and his wife shown in their field of drought-resistant wolf-berries [Photo credit: Tang Kong-fai]

Oxfam is working alongside local non-profit organisation, the Jingyuan County Association for Science and Technology (JCAST) on a series of anti-poverty programmes in Gansu, including emergency support to endure the drought, introducing drought-resistant crops, supporting vocational training with farmers, and promoting bio-gas and solar stoves in rural communities.

These eco-friendly technologies allow farmers to save money previously used to buy charcoal, and to reduce logging, which contributes to erosion, deforestation and thickening sandstorms.

Women, who are typically responsible for cooking, benefit as well, as they save time and labour; the sun reduces costs typically spent on cooking and boiling water.

Get involved: Climate change

Watch: Climate change in Bangladesh (video and blog, 27 July 2009)

Read in depth: Suffering the Science: Climate change, people, and poverty (Oxfam report, 6 July 2009)